Tom followed the line leader down the hall

Watching the other kids in their new

First-day-of-school clothes

With their

First-day-of-school faces

And wondered

If he should smile too

Out to the playground, they were headed

Out to the plastic and mulch and sky

But this was the one things he had dreaded

Because he knew he'd have to try

To make friends with other kids

To make them understand

That he was a little different

That he needed sea and sand

That he was one of the waves

A sea star on the beach

That of every shell he'd collected

He was one of each